Aaron Sheldon
Step across the threshold of his house and immediately see a sword, some pirate-themed decor and an Xbox 360.
Head through the house, passing a room where numerous string instruments hang from the walls.
Arriving at his room, notice a U.S. Army beret hanging from a frame, a mandolin sitting between a cello and a bass guitar, and a massive mixing board and microphone resting near his computer.
Be careful, or risk tripping over a keyboard and a guitar-effects pedal. It would be a shame to fall and land on the dazzling acoustic guitar resting on his bed.
Meet Dylan Cronin, a Pierce College student so deeply dedicated to the arts that he relearned to play eight instruments after being rehabilitated from malaria, which left him clinically dead – twice.
Since then, he’s learned many more.
Cronin began his music career learning the trumpet and the trombone in high school, as well as the tuba, French horn and baritone.
Due to a scheduling error in high school which placed him in a strings class, he started to learn the bass guitar. He moved onto guitar soon after, proceeding to learn cello after that. Once he had a basic understanding of string instruments, he moved onto the piano, drums and glockenspiel. Oh, and the vibraphone, too.
After he was rehabilitated, he learned the banjo and his latest favorite – the mandolin.
“If you learn everything you can play around with it,” Cronin explained. “Mix it up, see what works and what doesn’t.”
Now 25, he has spent the majority of his life since high school engulfed in every aspect of art and performance.
Torn between a music major and a theater major, he jumped to the top of both tiers. He performed in numerous musical theater parts at Pierce, anywhere from the “Complete Works of William Shakespeare: Abridged” to “James and the Giant Peach.”
He took his music beyond solitude and into numerous bands, including “The Pirates Charles,” a pirate-themed band with songs including “Sand in the Rum” and “Raise the Whiskey High.”
“Before there was the Pirates, I joined this band called King Washington,” Cronin explained. “We wanted to bring back more Beatle-esque music. We try not to take anything seriously in the band – we just want to have fun.”
King Washington will be touring this summer, as well as The Pirates Charles, who are always on the move.
“The Pirates Charles started last year with Diggity, the Captain. He started writing songs with Flip Cassidy, and then they got my twin brother and myself to join shortly after. That’s when I picked up the mandolin and my brother picked up the flute.
“We sing songs about drinking, fighting, mermaids… we also sing old sea shanties that are hundreds of years old, which is a lot of fun. You can put a modern-day spin on it. When people hear us, they can’t help but to get really drunk.”
The touring-veteran is no stranger to venues such as the House of Blues and the Viper Room, even performing at popular gatherings such as the annual San Diego ComicCon and the PirateCon in New Orleans.
“House of Blues, Viper Room, Key Club, all those places on Sunset Strip,” he listed. “Of course, everybody plays the Whiskey – I’ve played there a couple times.”
Taking influence from musicians ranging from Radiohead and the White Stripes to Bach and various country artists, Cronin’s delving into the musical world knows no boundaries.
Casting genres aside, his appreciation of music depends solely upon the quality of any song, regardless of style. This may explain how he has toured with rock, acoustic and folk rock bands, as well as tropical a cappella and classical bands.
The talented artisan is lucky to continue playing. After serving in the Army’s 3rd Ranger Battalion – a special operations infantry group that spearheaded operations in Afghanistan in 2001 and Iraq in 2003 – Cronin contracted malaria, a disease eradicated in the United States yet still killing 1 million people a year worldwide.
To further darken the situation, symptoms of a form of pneumonia picked up in Iraq started to show while he was being hospitalized for malaria.
Over the course of six months spent in a hospital, Cronin was pronounced clinically dead two times, at the mercy of experimental treatments and medications.
“I was 180 pounds, solid,” Cronin said, referring to his healthy weight. “When I got malaria and pneumonia, I lost a lot of weight. I was 112 pounds.”
They had to take out part of my lung, I had to relearn how to walk, talk and eat. My body was shut down.
Fully functional a few years later, he has added more instruments to his arsenal than ever before. He did it all with a nonchalant smile on his face, and a deeply vital reliance on music for his survival.
“I feel if I didn’t have music in my life, I’d probably be dead. Music is my life, and without it, I wouldn’t want to live. I know it’s kind of weird to say that, but that’s just what it is. I will do it until I die.”
Many musicians never see their music leave the sanctity of their bedrooms.
Others are led by their passion to perform on stages big and small.
Some even record in studio, whether it be for themselves or for the masses.
After accomplishing all this, Cronin still hasn’t taken off his gloves and wiped his brow; Everything thus far has simply been a stepping-stone for his future.
Be sure to check out the music by Dylan Cronin and The Pirates Charles on MySpace.
Dylan Cronin, surrounded by his string instruments, strums the ukulele while laying in his back yard. ()
The Pirates Charles, one of Dylan Cronin’s many bands, on their makeshift raft made from scrap lumber. (Lisha Joy)
